Emergency Operations

Emergency Flaring at Louisiana Refinery Grabs Attention

Flaring above the Shell complex in Norco, Louisiana, large enough to be seen for miles can be traced to power disruptions caused by severe weather passing through the area last week, the plant's Facebook site reports.

"Unfortunately, we are still in the process of making repairs to one of the units in order to bring it back online safety," the statement from the company reads.

The statement defines the condition at the plant as "elevated flare." Flaring is primarily used to burn off flammable gas released from unplanned over-pressure of plant equipment, a situation often linked to power disruptions.

An increase in noise from the plant was also noted in the Facebook post.

"We anticipate starting up the unit this weekend which will bring us out of the elevated flare by mid-week," the company statement reports.